


Inconsistent Variable

by CiderJo



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Big Sisters, Canon Compliant, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Repressed, Family Bonding, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Siblings, Violence, mild paranoia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26386414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CiderJo/pseuds/CiderJo
Summary: Constance has been loyal to the Brotherhood for what seemed like her entire life. However, when Adira leads a cheery group of trespassers though her home, she is forced to take action. But not only do the trespassers hold the key to freeing the Dark Kingdom, they can bring her back home. Back to her trapped father and jail-bird brother.
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1 - The Eldest

Cassandra was not happy to say the least. The party had just trekked up a rocky cliff to get to the entrance to the Great Tree after being run off a different cliff. And to top it all off, Adira was being infuriatingly cryptic, until Rapunzel finally snapped at her, demanding honesty.

"And just how many are in this, brotherhood?" Cassandra inserted.

"Not many," Adira stated, turning around. "But you've encountered one before. Quirin, father of Varian"

Rapunzel's face dropped as her mind flashed with images of Varian and his father. She thought of Varians cries for help as he was dragged down the hallway. She remembered the terrifying sight of Quirin trapped in the amber, then of the battle of Old Corona, then poor Varian being taken away in a prison carriage.

"-and Constance." Adira finished.

A sudden silence fell over the group. What? Constance? Who's Constance? Did Quirin have another kid before Varian? Does Varian have a sibling? Varian could talk for days, if he had a sibling, surely he would have mentioned them, even in passing.

"Excuse me, Con-who?" Eugene sputtered

Adira turned to look at Eugene and the rest of the party, eyebrow cocked before her face fell into it's usual stoic demeanor.

"I suppose you've never had the opportunity to meet Quirin's eldest. But you will shortly." 

"Adira," Rapunzel proaded softly. "does Quirin have another son?"

"Daughter actually."

The silence would have been alarming in any other situation, but it was a lot of information that came out of left field. Varian had a sister. An older sister he's never mentioned that they're going to meet soon. Would she look like Varian? Act like Varian? The thought ran miles a minute as everybody mulled it over.

Adira watched the Cronan's waiting for any of them to take her que and follow her into the tree, but they seemed to just stand there slack jawed and waiting expectantly.

"I suppose you would like to know more about Constance and why you've never heard of her" Adira started.

"Constance joined the Brotherhood 12 years ago. The circumstances of her induction weren't exactly favorable for Quirin, and it upset him immensely. It is understandable that neither he or Varian would have spoken much about her."

"Give me a break!" Cassandra scoffed. "Varian never shuts up! There is no way he could keep something so big to himself and not let it slip at least once."

"Cass!" Rapunzel quietly scolded.

Adira's eyes grew dark as she quietly glared at Cassandra 

"Varian loves his father very much, as I'm sure you're aware." Adira paused, letting the sting of her words sink in before she continued.

"He may not remember Constance very well if at all. But he is aware of how it upsets his father. So naturally, he wouldn't have brought it up."

Cassandra's eyes narrowed in defiance, but she felt a sting in the back of her throat. She knew that Adira was right, slippery as Varian's tongue was, he'd never intentionally upset his dad.

"Regardless." Adira said, brushing past Cassandra to Rapunzel. "The Great Tree is Hector's domain. He's sworn to stay here and ensure nobody crosses into the Dark Kingdom."

"What about Varian's sister? She's sworn here too?" Rapunzel asked.

"Only about half the time, if she's not here she's patrolling the mountains or bringing supplies to the Dark Kingdom. But right now she's here with Hector. He takes the day shift while Constance takes the night."

"Alright great. So we've gotta go through crazy rhino guy and Varianette's house to get to the Dark Kingdom?" Eugene questioned.

"Yes, but there is no need to worry. Constance is much more agreeable than Hector, and I've already told her about the sundrops pilgrimage."

Adira looked Rapunzel in the eye. The serious look unnerved Rapunzel and sent a shiver down her spine. 

"So long as you can prove you're the sundrop, she'll help us through the tree. Otherwise we will have to deal with both Hector and Constance." Adira warned.

Eugene, sensing the tension, took a step forward so he was standing beside Rapunzel. "Easy enough. Now here's what I'd like to know about Varianette. Is she more or less crazy than rhino man back there?"

Adira cocked an eyebrow in sass, but a small smile found its way onto her face. "She's a bit eccentric, but not anymore me."

"So that'd be a yes." Eugene deadpanned.

Rapunzel gave a light elbow to Eugene's side and a half-hearted be nice warning glare. Eugene gave Rapunzel a knowing smirk and draped an arm over her shoulders.

"Guys seriously?" Cassandra "We barely got away with this Hector with our lives. He ran us off a cliff! Now we're supposed to go through his home turf and deal with Varian's mysterious long lost sister who's probably just as, if not more dangerous than Varian!"

"'Like it or not, it's our only choice." Adira said simply.

The tension between Adira and Cassandra was thick. Adira stood firm and Cassandra wouldn't back down. Cassandra looked over to Rapunzel, hoping for some back up.

"Plus if worse comes to worst, I can deal with Constance." Adira added sensing Rapunzel's hesitance. 

Then Rapunzel spoke up. "I'm gonna go with Adira on this one."

Adira remained impassive, but the smugness of her demeanor only further angered Cassandra as she turned around and started to saunter towards the tree. Cassandra fummed to herself, crossing her arms and glaring at that stupid white hair. It only took her a moment, but she gave with a begrudging "Fine." and followed the party into the ginormous tree.


	2. Chapter 2 - Tourists

Unfamiliar echos roused Constance from her sleep.

The creaks and groans of the Great Tree was something she became familiar with long ago, anything out of the ordinary was picked up on instantly.

Constance sluggishly flipped on to her back and rubbed her eyes. She stayed like that for a moment, trying to wake up, focus, listening for the voices. They could've been from her dream again.

But there they were, the muffled and distant chatter of casual conversation. The tones they spoke with didn't strike her as immediately threatening.

Constance huffed and dragged her hands down her face to force her eyes open. She knew Hector should still be on shift; her internal clock was impeccable. He should've already dealt with the tourists, so where was he? Probably slacking, or testing her, or both.

Taking in a breath, she pushed herself out of her pile of blankets and stretched. Her back gave an audible pop, and she relaxed and glanced around her room.

It wasn't the greatest, but she loved it anyway. It was small and had wood planks from floor to ceiling. She decorated a bit, old curtains to cover the cracks in the west wall, a small fireplace she lined with some nice rocks she found, a soft bedroll she cut and turned inside out to act as a makeshift rug in the center of the room, and small trinkets, dried plants, and weapons randomly scattered around the room.

Constance lazily walked over to her wash bin and made quick work of washing her face, getting dressed, and tossing her hair up into a bun.

Her room was in an odd spot near the top of the tree. Her 'nest' as Hector liked to call it. Constance scoffed to herself. 

Double checking to make sure she had her bag and her quiver was full, she threw her bow over her shoulder and crept out of her room. 

She listened again for the voices, they were still far away but slowly coming closer, and there's lots of people, at least 5.

Carefully peaking over the edge of the walkway she was standing on, hoping that maybe she could get a peak of the tourists. They were so far down they reminded Constance of ants. 

Yeah there were a lot of them, more than 5.

She recognized Adira at the front, which brought her comfort that they weren't tourists, but then anxiety.

Constance didn't meet very many people. The last person she met was part of a group of historians from a college near Arendelle over a year ago. They were studying the Dark Kingdom's collapse and were attempting a research trip.

It was foolish in her eyes. The Dark Kingdom was something everybody knew about, but nobody mentioned. It was a taboo, and anybody with a brain stayed away from even thinking about it. Many of the common folk believed it to be cursed and mentioning it would bring bad luck and misfortune.

Obviously it wasn't true. Constance had been there a few times, bringing news and supplies to King Edmund, but the rumour kept prying eyes away. Mostly. 

The research group was easy enough to scare away. An eerie noise here, and missing thing there, and a final assault on their camp sent them running for the hills.

One of the researchers tried to be a hero and fight her, but he was laughably awful at fighting. He awkwardly threatened her with a sword that he held with wobbly elbows and a wildly telegraphed swing that sent him fumbling to the ground from the sword's weight. She made quick work of beating him to a pulp and sending him running after his group.

They'd left most of their stuff behind, which Constance took as parting gifts and apology for trespassing. She split the spoils with Hector, who seemed more than pleased. They celebrated with a toast over a bottle of wine from one of the bags Constance brought back.

In hindsight she didn't really meet any of them, she never spoke directly to them or even introduced herself, but she did know a lot after stalking them for a day and a half.

Constance felt butterflies creep into her stomach. She'd never admit it outloud but she was scared to meet so many new people at once. Especially people she wasn't going to immediately scare away.

Ever so carefully, Constance retreated and slipped through a gap between the wall. 

There were secret tunnels running everywhere though the tree. When the tree still belonged to Zhan-Tiri, he had spys monitoring every inch of his stronghold. But now the spy tunnels lay deserted, gathering dust and spiders. Perfect for following people.

Constance silently made her way through the tunnels until she wasn't too far from the group of people Adira had brought here, she could make out every person now, put a face to the voice.. 

They were in the incantatio room now, a room she and Hector avoided to preserve. It angered Constance a bit that Adira would so casually bring these strangers into one of the most sacred rooms without a second thought.

Constance decided the best course of action was to wait to ambush until they were outside the incantation room, just in case the fight got out of hand.

If Adira truly got the sundrop, she'd help them. If not then she'd destroy them.

Two of the people she saw from before were gone now, and so was one of the horses. Constance wasn't surprised, the tree was extremely dangerous. Adira should be watching her people better.

They mulled about the room. Constance studied them, like a predator stalking its prey, looking for any weak spots so if it came to blows she'd have the upper hand.

Then the blonde one started reading the moonstone incantation out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so here we are. It's been a hot second since I've written anything so please forgive any weird structures or my writing style. I started writing this around January, but once the series ended it kinda fell into the aether haha. Figured I'd start publishing and see if I can't finish this.


	3. Chapter 3 - Tense Beginnings

"Rap-un-zel." Cassandra begged. Her voice was barely more than a strained whisper. It felt like she was being suffocated, unable to fill her burning lungs with the air that was so plentiful around them.

The haunting song continued with no signs of stopping. Rapunzel was enraptured by the incantation, hypnotised and held no control over herself. She stood there like a puppet on strings as the tendrils of black hair that seemed more like an endless ocean, lazily swirled and whipped randomly, coming dangerously close to Cassandra. 

"Raps." Cassandra heaved again. "Please." Her vision was blurry now, but she knew that Rapuzel was ahead of her. But she couldn't see past her teary eyes into the endless darkness. Her eyelids grew heavier by the second, getting to the point it felt like anvils were tied to her lids, but she fought to keep them open. She was supposed to protect Rapunzel, but she couldn't. Cassandra knew she was going to die.

They were all going to die.

Then it happened in a flash. Cassandra took in a deep gulp of air before a violent cough shook her entire being. As she gathered her bearings, she looked for Rapunzel. Her hair had turned golden again, but she was laying limp on the watery ground. Against her body's wishes, Cassandra pushed herself from the ground, stumbling to her feet. She had to make sure Rapunzel was okay.

"Do. Not. Move." Adira's voice was low and sudden. She was still on her hands and knees, unmoving, but her eyes gave an unspoken warning.

Cassandra froze. She wasn't sure why she was listening to Adira, but the sudden sternness of her voice startled her. But then she looked back at Rapunzel. Cassandra could see her still splayed in the water, face down and red started to seep out into the surrounding water. "Raps!" she cried.

She gathered her strength and made a sprint for Rapunzel, the harsh splashed her boots made in the still water seemed sounded throughout the chamber. Her knees skidded across the stone floor as she gently picked up and cradled Rapunzel's head, who was slowly coming back to consciousness. Her left arm had a deep gash and was bleeding a river. 

"Cas?" Rapunzel whispered, cracking her eyes open.

It was over before they realized it was happening. A snap and an electric crack echoed through the chamber. Rapunzel's hair turned a blinding yellow and flew into a semi circle around the women before falling limp once again. Startled, Rapunzel and Cassandra looked at each other; her hair activated for less than a second.

"Any more sudden movements and consider them your last." Adira hissed. Neither of the women heard her move, but she was standing over them with her blade drawn in a defensive position. "We are not alone."

A thick silence fell over the room. Rapunzel could hear the blood pumping in her ears and the sweat that spilled down her forehead. She couldn't help but reach to clutch her arm. It was still bleeding profusely. She wasn't sure what exactly had caused it, but it hurt. Cassandra could feel her hand twitch, ready to grab for her sword and stab the crap out of whoever was here. 

Both their eyes flew around the room, looking for the mysterious intruder, however they noticed something else.

Two black arrows were tightly held in Adira's hand at waist level, their head level. Cassandra and Rapunzel looked at each other as their faces dropped and their eyes widened. They'd almost been shot, and they didn't even know it.

"Constance!" Adira shouted into nothingness, her voice bounced off the wet stones in the giant cavern. "Stand down!"

Then something shifted. Up in the corner, coming out of a cave or hole in the wall, was a backlit shadow of a figure. It seemed to be shaped like a person, but it was a bit hard to see. As far as they could tell, the person's silhouette was that of an archer, with their bow drawn and arrow ready to find it's mark.

The figure, Constance, Cassandra assumed, cautiously withdrew her bow and arrow. She stood there for a moment, observing. The silent but intimidating judgement from the unknown was unnerving to say the least, even for Cassandra, who was typically undaunted by people.

Then she jumped. It was sudden and Rapunzel had a split second of absolute terror before she became mesmerized. Her body twisted gracefully in the air like nothing Rapunzel's ever seen before. She curled into a tight ball, then extended her legs straight out infront of her and her arms out to her sides into a V shape. Constance landed on her foot and one knee, her torso crouched over as her fingertips lightly kissed the ground.

In another life she could be an acrobat in a circus, Rapunzel thought.

Constance then stood and made eye contact with Cassandra, her knees bent as her hand hovered above the dagger on her hip as if she was ready to attack at any moment. Cassandra returned the jester, readying her sword. Constance's glare was predatory.

Then her eyes shifted over to Adira, who stood off to the side relaxed and gave a small nod to Constance. Constance did the same in return and relaxed, paying no mind to Cassandra's deepening stance.

"Constance." Adira greeted.

"Adira." Her voice was soft and feminine, but had a course undertone.

Her big blue eyes and heavily freckled face would have given her a disarmingly innocent look if it wasn't for the hardened look in her eyes and the scar that slashed through her left eyebrow. Her shaggy black hair was pulled into a messy bun atop her head except for her uneven sidebangs that were too short and escaped the bun. However what really caught the attention of Rapunzel and Cassandra was the familiar streak of blue hair that swirled into her bun.

She was dressed a bit sloppily. A boat line black shirt with loose sleeves that ended just above her elbows that had a white Dark Kingdom symbol embroidered on her left sleeve. A necklace with some sort of large canine tooth, cargo pants tucked into well loved boots, and two thick crooked belts that each held smaller bags and pockets rested on her hips.

Cassandra couldn't help but narrow her eyes, not missing the large long bow over her shoulder and the quiver full of arrows that, oddly enough, hung off the woman's belt rather than the traditional back/shoulder quiver that was so typical at home.

"Does Hector know you're here?" Constance asked, breaking the tense silence.

"Unfortunately." Adira replied. 

There was a pause as Constance gave a dramatic nose exhale. "This isn't what we talked about." she groaned as she casually reached into one the many pouches on her hip.

"This isn't what we spoke about." Adira corrected with a smugness on her face. "And I'm aware. However Hector discovered and attacked before we could get to the rendezvous point. Straight through is the fastest option."

"Straight through is always the fastest, but it's always the most predictable." 

Constance didn't spare Adira a glance as she rummaged through her pouch, starting to wade her way to Rapunzel and Cassandra.

Cassandra brazenly raised her sword again and deepened her defence stance in front of Rapunzel. There was absolutely no way she was allowing this bizarre lady who presumably attacked and injured Rapunzel's arm come any closer.

Constance paid her no mind as she pulled out a bottle of a chartreuse colored cream and a roll of bandages. She stopped about 10 feet away from them when Cassandra didn't lower her guard.

Then she looked past Cassandra to Rapunzel. "Here, let me fix your arm."

"Nuh-uh no way!" Cassandra interrupted, throwing an arm out to her side to further guard Rapunzel. "You just tried to kill us!"

"Cas." Rapunzel softly warned, but was ignored.

"You better start spitting some answers or we're gonna have a problem!"

Constance stared at Cassandra and gave a dumbfounded blink, she then looked to Adira with a questioning look. Adira gave a look back and a silent conversation between the two started. Cassandra scowled. 

"Now." she demanded.

"Oh! Right sorry, that was so rude of me." the mysterious woman casually smiled and closed the distance between her and Cassandra and brought her left hand up for a handshake. "I'm Constance."

Cassandra was not expecting that to say the least. She was expecting some pretentious and rude remark or a cheeky quip like Adira would do. Instead, she was thrown for a loop with how quickly this woman's mood was changing from aggressive, to casual to friendly. She glanced down at the hand in front of her, then to the woman, who's eyes darted to her hand and back, indicating to shake. Cassandra didn't move.

"Oh!" she exclaimed with a look of realization. She switched her hands so her right hand was ready to shake. "My bad, I always mix them up."

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra looked at Rapunzel with an uneasy face, who in return gave her a reassuring nod. She slowly shifted her blade to her left hand and shook the waiting hand. 

"Cassandra." she relented and quickly drew her hand back. In the back of her mind she wondered if she'd get another 'nickname' like Adira's.

"Cassandra." Constance repeated, testing the name on her tongue. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Constance."

"Yeah, you said that already." Cassandra deadpanned, trying to remain emotionless but couldn't help the wariness that slipped into her tone.

"You're Constance?" Rapunzel asked, gently pushing past Cassandra's arm to be beside her. 

"Yes." she replied, a lazy smile found its way to her face. "And after that kerfuffle I can assume you're the sundrop, with the glowing hair and everything." Constance uncorked the bottle of the chartreuse cream.

"Yeah that'd be me, but Rapunzel's fine." she said offering her arm, ignoring the warning look Cassandra gave her.

Constance hummed and dipped a cotton swab into the cream before carefully rubbing it onto Rapunzel's arm. "This will help numb the pain and accelerate the healing process, not by much but it helps. It's gonna sting for a minute or so before the numbing takes effect."

Rapunzel took in a sharp breath as her nose scrunched and her eyes pressed closed as hard as they could. "Yeah I figured that out on my own." she hissed.

Constance either ignored Rapunzel's remark or just didn't hear her, she really couldn't tell.

"Anyway," Constance said. "the original plan was for Adria to bring you to a rendezvous point a few miles east of here, then she'd come and get me and I'd lead you through the catacombs under the tree and Hector would be none the wiser."

"Catacombs?" Cassandra inquired, folding her arms. 

"Yeah." she shrugged unbothered.

Constance spoke so nonchalantly Cassandra wondered if she was even aware of what she was saying.

Constance didn't say anything else on the catacomb issue, but instead held the roll of gauze to Cassandra. "You know how to bandage?"

"Yes." Cassandra snapped as she snatched the bandages away from Constance and moved to Rapunzel's arm. 

Cassandra couldn't help but be insulted at the question. Did this shadow lady junior think she was incompetant too? How stupid did she think she was? Cassandra couldn't help but seeth to herself.

Constance nodded and put away the cream. "Be careful not to touch the cream or you won't be able to feel your fingers."

"What is it?"

Constance's eyebrows furrowed. "What's what?"

"The cream." Cassandra scoffed.

"Ah! It's a salve I came up with. It's got some beeswax, clove oil, lavender, rosemary, calendula, and a few other seasonal plants and stuff, nothing too fancy." Constance beamed.

The way she spoke about her salve reminded Rapunzel of Varian when they first met. He was so sweet and bubbly and excited about his invention, a lot like Constance is now. Constance definitely had a more laid back demeanor than the uppity Varian did, but that could just be because she's older. It was sweet to imagine that Varian got his eagerness from his sister.

Rapunzel's face slowly relaxed as the painful gash on her became numb and Cassandra finished tying the bandage. "Are you okay Raps?" Cassandra whispered.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah I think so."

"I'm sorry Raps, I'm supposed to protect you."

"It's okay. Thank you Adria, Constance."

Adira gave a small nod in acknowledgement, and Constance crouched beside Rapunzel and Cassandra and picked up the two discarded black arrows at their feet and started examining them. She approved and put them back into her quiver.

"Now let's go. It'd be unfortunate to lose any more of you."

A low rumbling made everybody freeze in place and peer up at the deteriorating ceiling as it cracked and crumbled. With a resounding boom, a large section of the ceiling collapsed into the shallow water.

In the center was a large pink flower with two men and a horse sitting on it.

"Rapunzel! Wha's up!" Eugene slurred with a lazy smile on his face.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel cried and ran over to him, helping him out of the slimy maw of the flower and sitting him down beside it. 

"Eugene what happened are you okay!?"

"Never better now that you're here." His voice was a bit huskier than normal, but Rapunzel could easily chalk that up to him trying to seduce her, as he was attempting a smoulder but couldn't quite pull it off. Rapunzel could compare his face to a few months ago when Eugene and Lance decided to try Montey's sour candies, it left his face so crinkled and cute.

Rapunzel let out a breathy laugh and went in for a bear hug. It took Eugene a moment to respond, but he returned the hug.

Cassandra helped Lance out of the flower as he purred sweet words at Adira, who sent an aggressive glare which shut him up, but it wasn't long before he started his cooing again, rinse and repeat. Max stood up on his own and carefully stepped over to where Fidella stood with Hookfoot and Shorty, the horse seemed dazed, putting great effort into each step he took, but less bleary eyed and more present than Eugene or Lance.

"Pascal!" Rapunzel suddenly cried. "Where's Pascal!?"

Worried green eyes rapidly darted from Eugene to Lance to Max.

"Your lizard?" Constance spoke up from the opposite side of the plant, carefully lifting out an unconscious Pascal.

"Oh Pascal!" Rapunzel ran over to Constance and took Pascal with cupped hands. She held him up to her face and snuggled him, realizing he wasn't moving. "Pascal?" she quietly whispered, voice cracking and fearing the worst.

"He'll be fine." Constance quickly explained, sensing what Rapunzel was thinking. "Barbed Moneytraps don't waste their time on small meals, he's just overwhelmed from the poison. Just needs to sleep it off."

"Poison!?" Rapunzel gasped.

"It's okay! It's not poisonous poison. Just..." Constance trailed off looking for the right word. "...happy poison." she smiled.

Cassandra accusingly raised an eyebrow. "Happy poison? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Barbed Monkeytraps like to eat animals with high dopamine levels, so their gas makes dopamine go off the charts. Right? The bigger you are the faster it wears off, so it could be a while for the little guy." Constance shrugged. "On me the effects only last about half an hour, so your friends will be fine in the next 20 minutes or so. Pastel is just gonna have to sleep it off."

Out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra noticed Adria's eyes narrowed into an intense glare at Constance, who clearly saw and pretended not to notice and averted attention.

"Now then." Constance averted, stepping over the dead plant and to an unopened door. "Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty they finally met! Exploring Constance's relationships with the group is so much fun I'm excited to share more.  
> My original plan was for Hector's daughter or niece, but then she evolved into Quirin's daughter and I think I'm liking where it's going so far.  
> See you soon lovelies!


	4. Chapter 4 - Casual Stroll

The effects of the Barbed Monkeytrap gas wore off sooner than Constace predicted. According to Rapunzel, the boys were back to normal after a few minutes of walking. Pascal started stirring nearly an hour later, much to Rapunzel's relief.

Constance diverted them from the main pathway not too long after joining them, choosing to take a more narrow and twisty path.

"I thought we were going through the catacombs." Eugene complained, "Not that I'm complaining! I'm more than happy not to go through underground death hallways. But just like; the climbing!"

Eugene was huffing and puffing up a particularly complicated set of branches the party was attempting to maneuver up.

"Catacombs are in the roots, we're in the branches." Constance blinked.

"Uh, yeah I know that."

"This is the quickest way to the top." Adira butted in. "Would you prefer to turn around to go through the catacombs and add an extra day to your journey?"

Glowering, Eugene pushed himself up a slippery knot in the branch and continued on.

The journey continued on, and continued to carry the tension with it; Adira didn't care, Cassandra was stewing, and Constance didn't seem to even notice.

"Soo, Constance." Rapunzel said after half an hour of the uncomfortable atmosphere cementing itself between the group. "

"This tree's pretty neat. How long have you lived here?"

"Over 12 years." she replied, her tone flat and stable.

Wow, Rapunzel thought. It's been over 12 years since she's been home, to see her father and brother. It must be horrible for her. Rapunzel at least had the luxury of not remembering her time before she was taken, so she didn't miss anyone up in her tower. 

If her math was right, Constance was around 9 when she left home to join the brotherhood, Varian had to be 2 or 3.

"Wow, 12 years is a long time."

Constance didn't say anything, instead giving a grunt in acknowledgement.

Sweating, Rapunzel looked at Eugene for help or guidance. He gave a comforting nod and a soft smile. She smiled back and took in a breath, gathering her thoughts.

"I have a question." Cassandra butted in. "Why are you helping us when your crazy uncle rhino-man tried to have us killed."

Rapuznel, Eugene, and Adira turned to glare at her, but Constance didn't seem fazed by the abrupt accusation.

"I've spent my life guarding the Dark Kingdom and the moonstone, and that's how I'll probably spend the rest of it." Constance stated plainly. "I'm not sure about your journey or whatever, but if Adira believes the moonstone can be neutralized, I'll give her the chance."

Rapunzel smiled softly. "That's very brave Constance."

Constance glanced at Rapunzel, staring at her long enough to be a bit uncomfortable. "I'm being selfish." she simply said walking onward, not bothering to give any more explanation.

After about two hours of walking, they finally made it to the top of the pathway. 

Eugene stood near the edge, looking down into the black nothingness of the pit. "Oooh that's a long way down."

"Let's camp out here for the night." Adira said, sitting down and pulling out her sword, examining it's blade.

Cassandra spoke up from the back of the group, moving forward past her party. "No, we should keep moving and get out of here as soon as possible."

"I'm not sure that's your call kiddo." Adira said, smugness lacing her voice.

"Cas," Rapunzel said wearily. "we could use the rest."

"Rapunzel, this place nearly got us killed an hour ago, and-"

"Thankfully, I was there to prevent it." Adira interrupted with a teasing smirk, side eyeing Constance. 

Constance gave her a half-hearted glare and scoffed.

"Stay out of this Adira!" Cassandra shouted, whipping around and giving her a pointing finger, like a mother scolding a naughty child.

Adira's face lost it's playful teasing and hardened. "You should calm down."

"You wanna know what I think?" Cassandra snapped. She made an aggressive step towards Adira, pointing her finger and accusing. "I think you lead us here on purpose! And for some sick reason, you wanted Rapunzel to find that incantation and read it!"

"Come on Cas!" Rapunzel begged.

"Rapunzel, listen to me." she stressed. "We need to get out of this tree, but more importantly we need to lose Adira and her posse before she gets us killed!"

Hesitantly but firmly, Rapunzel raised her head. "I can't do that, Cassandra."

"What do you mean you can't do that? Are you that obviously naive that you can't-"

"Enough!" Rapunzel shouted with an unfamiliar fury. "Nobody is getting rid of anyone! Have I made myself clear!?" 

Cassandra stood shocked. She'd never seen Rapunzel get genuinely mad before, and never could've imagined her fury would be directed at her.

"Yes, your highness." Cassandra's shoulders slumped and her head dropped submissively. "I'll take first watch." she whispered, as she dejectedly walked away to the furthest edge. 

Rapunzel's anger fled as quickly as it came to her. She made a move to follow Rapunzel, but Eugene gently grabbed her wrist. "Maybe give her a bit."

Constance watched the display perplexed. She didn't have much experience with friendships, even as a child she preferred to play by herself than with the company of the other children. But something about the way they spoke to each other seemed peculiar.

She turned to Adira, hoping for an answer, but instead she got a bored shrug.

Constance hummed and went about starting a fire. Thinking and mulling over the argument she witnessed.

She did think much about the name-calling or yelling. It wasn't her problem and frankly didn't care. But she knew that Cassandra misunderstood Adira, most people did. But it wasn't all her fault, Adira did tend to be abrasive and harsh with her words. Maybe she could try and explain Adira to Cassandra, and she wouldn't hate her as much.

It was an hour when everybody finally started settling down and dozing off. Adira was off to the side, lazily tending to her sword. Standing from her lean on the nearby tree, Constance decided to make her move.

"Cassandra?" Constance carefully called out, a few feet from behind her.

Cassnandra peered over her shoulder, Constance stood about 10 feet in a diagonal direction behind her, as to not sneak up directly behind her, waiting for permission to step closer. Cassandra felt a flicker of appreciation. It was a small gesture, and meaningless to probably everybody else here. 

In Corona, people tended to express their emotions outwardly and she'd grown used to unwelcome hugs and forced conversations. People wanted to talk through their problems immediately after they happened, while she preferred to stew over the issue, reflect, and eventually silently forgive or fix the problem. Constance recognized that in her, and was respecting it.

Cassandra didn't look at Constance. Instead she sneered into the pit. "What do you want?" 

Her rude questioning wasn't meant to be an invitation to sit beside her, but that's apparently what Constance thought it was.

It was silent for a moment, as they gazed into the never ending pit of blackness before them and the giant branches twisting around each other into some sudo ceiling. The moonlight softly lit parts of the tree into a somber blue, illuminating the area.

"You know," Constance started softly. "during the day, this entire part of the tree is orange."

Cassandra's eyebrows furrowed, she glanced at Constance, who dreamily looked up at the cascading branches. Cassandra followed her gaze, looking harder at the dulled wood, trying to imagine it being a bright and vibrant orange.

"If you're awake during the sunrise, the colors are absolutely bonkers." Constance said after a moment of silence. Cassandra almost stifled a laugh. Bonkers. It was such a silly word. Cassandra expected some elegant word like amazing, or breathtaking. Not bonkers.

But the lingering hurt from her argument with Rapunzel still stung. She felt awful, useless, ignored. Her opinion doesn't matter anymore. Why was she still here? Loyalty maybe, but to what? A friend who doesn't want her opinion anymore, a princess who she should wait on unconditionally?

"Hey," Constance gently spoke up as she awkwardly hovered a hand over Cassandra's head, before carefully putting it on Cassandra's slumped shoulder. The entire movement was bizarre. 

"Don't take Adira too seriously. She's all tongue-in-cheek."

Cassandra scowled at the pit. "I beg to differ."

"Mmm," Constance hummed. "She's harsh. But if she didn't like you, she'd ignore you, like your friend Lance. I actually think she respects you."

Sitting up ridged, Cassandra glared at Constance, daring her to continue. Unbothered by her tough exterior but sensing the twinge of curiosity, Constance continued. "She likes that you're so suspicious, and is encouraging it so you are more careful the closer you get to the Dark Kingdom. It will only get more dangerous, and your group lacks..."

Constance paused, searching for the right word. "...awareness."

Cassandra couldn't help but agree.

"Adira's awful with people. She's worse than me." Constance smiled and half suppressed a chuckle. "Believe it or not, Hector is the best with people."

Cassandra would not believe it.

There was a pause for a moment. "Am I helping?" Constance asked, her voice dropping into a whisper.

Cassandra half-heartedly scoffed. "Sure."

With a proud smile, Constance stood up and stretched. "Good." Her back cracked lightly and she relaxed. "Wake me up for a watch. I'm usually up late anyway."

The genuine satisfaction Constance got from thinking she helped Cassandra would have almost been cute if it wasn't so obvious she didn't help at all. 

There was no way in hell Cassandra would believe that Adira respected her. By the way she's treated and spoken to her, Cassandra would sooner believe that Adira wanted to replace her than respect her.

Silently seething, Cassandra glanced at the retreating ravenette, who had jumped into one of the nearby branches and layed down, letting her arms and legs hang on either side. She resembled a cat.

Cassandra rubbed her tired eyes. She wasn't ready to go to sleep yet, maybe she'd go for a walk to try and clear her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooh wee, this chapter was fun to write, one of the harder ones but it was fun! Don't be afraid to let me know any spelling/grammar errors.


	5. Chapter 5 - Hector

A loud crash jolted Constance from her sleep. She leapt to her feet and drew her bow, aiming in the direction of the noise. It was a fallen tree, blocking them from seeing the other half of the platform they were camping on.

Two giant binteroungs strided over the fallen tree with a dangerous swagger, perching on the top with their teeth bared and drool dripping from their maws, giving them a rabid appearance.

Constance could hear the scuffle of a fight from behind the tree.

"Essek! Kiri! Move out of the way." she shouted, jumping off her branch stalking forward, paying no mind to the Coronans who merely stared at her with wide eyes.

They growled at her, one of them leaped off the log in her direction, but Constance seemed unphased. It stopped a few feet away from her, hackles raised.

"Essek." her voice was sturdy and demanding. "Move." She growled, stalking closer to the binteroung that was apparently named Essek. The closer she got to Essek the harsher he hissed, but eventually relented as she walked right past him, the other binturong reluctantly stepped to the side, making way for Constance. She leapt over the fallen tree and disappeared. 

Lance attempted to follow Constance, seeing how these bear things were all bark and no bite. With an astounding "Fear not sweet Adira! I'm coming!" he leapt up, bounding after the young warrior.

It almost worked, until the binterougon in front of the tree, Essek, swiped his ginormous claw at him, tearing his shirt open and leaving faintly stinging scratches across his chest. With a yelp, Lance scurried backwards to the party. If he'd been any closer the wound might have been serious.

"Or, maybe not." he muttered from behind Hookfoot.

What Constance saw as soon as she landed horrified her. Adira crumpled at the base of a tree, and Cassandra fought for consciousness sprawled in the dirt on the opposite side of the platform. In the middle of it stood Hector. Their eyes met.

"Adira is lying to you."

"No she isn't."

"The moonstone can't be stopped!"

"But what if it can?!"

Hector scoffed. "Adira was always an idealist, so much so to her own detriment. She's misguided, putting her faith in fairy tales and myths." Hector paused and looked to Constance with pleading eyes. "You can still abandon Adira's empty promises."

"But what if it's true Hector? I've seen sundrop. If there's even if there's the slightest of a chance the moonstone can be neutralized- Hector we'll be free from this tree, from King Edmund's last command." Constance begged, her voice shaking.

"That's treason Bluebird."

Constance hesitated for a moment, but her eyes met Hectors. His were fierce but sollum. It made Constance nervous.

Hers on the other hand, were a desperate mix of defiance and trepidation. Hector hoped she wasn't serious, but he's known her for so long, he knows she won't budge.

"It breaks my heart that, after all these years, it's come to this." his voice was sorrowful like she'd never heard before. Hector lowered into a fighting stance.

"Me too." she uttered, raising her bow with arrows at the ready.

On the other side of the tree Eugene held Rapunzel to his chest, keeping a keen eye on the bearcats, but wasn't completely watching them. Like everyone else, he listened to Hector and Constance. 

It was tense. Their lives rode on Constance's ability to defeat Hector and get them out of here as quickly as possible. They all heard Hector wipe the floor with Adira, the unbeatable brick wall that made Cassandra look like a baby with a stick, and he beat her to a pulp in less than a minute.

Eugene hugged Rapunzel tighter, wanting to really feel her presence. He hated being so pessimistic, but this could very well be their last moments together.

On the other side of the fallen tree, Adira gritted her teeth and seethed in a breath. She craned her neck up to see Hector and Constance slowly circling, much like Hector did with her not even a minute ago, but there was a reluctance in both of their step.

Hector always loved to get up close and overwhelm his opponents while Constance prefered to hang back, play ranged, and adapt to her opponent's movements. 

It was unusual for Hector not to rush his opponents right off the bat to catch them off guard. And it was equally surprising when Constance made the first move. Faster than she's ever seen before, arrows flew at Hector, pinning his cape to the tree behind him.

Hector was still for a split-second. If Adira didn't know better she'd think he was scared. Then he unclasped his cape and yanked an arrow from the tree, hurling it back to Constance with all his might and ran after it.

Constance leaned to the side and caught the arrow mid-air and drew it back. Like a charging rhino, Hector was almost upon Constance. She shifted her aim slightly to the side, aiming for his shoulder and fired.

The arrow missed when he crouched and bum rushed Constance.

Much like a mountain goat, or a rhino, Hector smashed his head into Constance's stomach, making her lose her breath and recoil back a few steps. But she remained undaunted and pulled back another arrow, however Hector was too close to use arrows without being deadly.

Hector knew Constance could easily end him right there if she wanted. But he also knew she wouldn't fire anything faital. As Hector ascended on Constance with fist raised, she swung her bow over her shoulder and raised her fists.

They fought hand to hand. Their fighting was a bit odd to Adira. Constance didn't punch persay, she curled her fingers in a way that looked like cat paws, and would strike with her middle knuckles, delivering softer, but precise blows.

Any onlooker could have mistaken them for dancing if it wasn't so aggressive. They moved in a way that was graceful and harsh, predicting each other's movements and acting accordingly. They ducked and weaved around eachother like two ribbons in the wind. 

Hector landed a harsh blow to her ribs then went for a final swing for her head, if he could box her ears, she'd be knocked out and down for the count.

It was no secret to Hector how quickly Constance moved with her bow, she could shoot 2 arrows a second, but he often neglected how fast she could hit.

A swift uppercut to his armpit, directly on his ulnar nerve, made him hiss in pain as his entire arm jolted, stopped mid-swing, and went numb.

Constance then slid her bow off her shoulder and over Hector's head and shoulders. She then pulled it in close to her, the string slinging Hector forward. Constance met him with a powerful headbutt and released her bow, letting Hector slam to the ground restrained by her bow. She raised her foot, ready to deliver a swift kick to his head to knock him out.

But Constance hesitated. It was hardly a second, but it was enough for Hector to analyze and take advantage of. As her foot rocketed down to his head, his arms flew up and redirected her leg into the empty air beside him, forcing her to overextend and lose balance. He then spun his legs up and weaved them between Constance's and tripped her to the ground.

As fast as lightning, Hector was behind Constance and holding her in a chokehold. Constance clawed at his arms and face trying to break his hold but to no avail as Hector only tightened his grip. Slowly, Constance's strikes weakened and her wiggling slowed.

"Shhh, sleep Bluebird, we'll talk about this in the morning." Hector whispered as her struggling ceased, her body fell limp and her heavy eyes shut. He gently lowered Constance to the ground cradling her head so it wouldn't bang on the stone floor.

Hector cradled his arm. The pins and needles sensation was intense and pulsed with his heartbeat. He lingered a moment over Constance, her breathing was a bit wheezy and her face was red, if he hadn't just choked her he would've thought she was simply having a bad dream. It was hard to see her come to this, she'd always been a realist, not believing in any of this fairy tale magic garbage. Adira's little 'sundrop' must be ended.

Turning and stalking to the fallen tree, Hector shook out his arm that was slowly but surely gaining feeling back. He leapt over the tree with the grace of a cat and a condescending greeting to Rapunzel. 

Constance snapped open her eyes and, as quietly as she could, aggressively took in air. She turned over to her hands and knees and heaved and dry coughed into her shoulder, wheezing for air between the body shuddering coughs.

She had faked passing out, and it was far more difficult than she thought it'd be. The arm Hector threw around her neck was the one she rendered without feeling; he couldn't feel how hard or softly he was choking her.

It took a few moments to gather her bearings and started breathing again. Slightly light-headed, she carefully got up, grabbing her discarded bow from the ground and pushed herself to where Hector had gone.

She pulled herself over the fallen tree, only to see Hector with his foot on Cassandra's hand, with a cruel smile on his face.

Suddenly, Cassandra threw dirt in his eyes, catching him off guard and grabbing his foot, using the momentum to push him off of her, but she didn't simply push him off, she kept propelling forward.

All at once Constance realized what was about to happen.

"Uncle Hector!" Constance screeched. 

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as Cassandra shoved Hector into the pit. His arms flailed grasping at nothing, screaming. Constance had never heard Hector scream quite like that before. He'd screamed before because she'd jump out from a corner to scare him, or because he'd spill hot water in his lap when they were having tea; but this scream was out of anguish and it struck a terror into Constance as quickly as it struck a relief to everybody else.

The binteroungs were faster than she was, zooming past Cassandra and jumping in after Hector.

Constance was running to the pit before she even realized it. Her legs were moving and her breath was labored. If she was quick enough she could save Hector from the deadly fall.

However, Constance realized she wasn't as close to the edge as she thought she was when Adira snatched her mid-stride. "No!" she pleaded as her legs flailed before Adira restrained her body to hers. Adira wrapped an arm around her torso, effectively trapping her arms to her sides. 

"Constance, stop." Adira demanded firmly. 

"Let me go Adira! I can save him!" she begged, struggling against Adira's tight grip. 

"I can- I-" her voice died in her throat as she desperately stared at the ledge Hector had been thrown off of. It was only seconds, but those wasted those seconds were precious, and now too much time passed.

Her body relaxed as she averted her gaze to her boots.

Adira, worry evident on her face, loosened her grip and gently let go of Constance, she swayed a bit but quickly righted herself.

But then Constance turned to face Adira, agony and sorrow overwhelmed her eyes. Adira didn't need to see more, slowly and uncomfortably placed a hand on top of Constance's head.   
Constance put both her hands on Adira and squeezed it. She sniffled with an innocence that made Adira feel awful.

Rapunzel, Eugene, Lance, and the rest of the party averted their eyes from the awkward, but tender moment. It was difficult to feel bad for Hector, he had just tried to kill them all. But seeing Constance so crushed was hard to watch.

Subconsciously, Rapunzel couldn't help but draw parallels between Constance and Varian. 

Cassandra watched with mixed emotions. She'd just thrown a murderous psychopath to his death, saved all her friends, and one upped Adria all in one go. She really wanted to feel good about it, but she couldn't. But seeing Adira have actual human emotions, like sympathy, strange as it was, made Cassandra rethink her bitterness if only for a moment.

But Constance's reaction made Cassandra feel worse. It was easy to forget a life was a life, and Hector seemed to be a father figure to Constance. They'd lived together since Constance joined the Brotherhood, and she probably doesn't remember much about her mom, or father, or her brother. Hector raised her to be a warrior, kinda like how her father raised her to be a soldier.

But it was necessary, she didn't have a choice. It was him or her.

Cassandra briefly thought about what she'd do if somebody threw her father off a cliff for protecting his Kingdom. She'd probably go for the jugular.

Adria pulled her hand back carefully. She would do a lot for Constance, but the contact was starting to make her skin crawl in the worst possible ways.

No tears fell, as Adria never has and probably never will see Constance cry, she simply didn't cry, but she was dazed and wouldn't meet Adira's eyes. Adira wouldn't have it, as she gently lifted her hand to Constance's face, tenderly lifting her chin up.

"We have a job to do."

"I know." Constance's voice was strained and hardly a whisper. She took a moment to focus on her breathing. Her pounding heart, dry mouth, sore throat, shaky breaths.

She looked up at Adira, determination lit her sad eyes. "I know."

Constance turned to the rest of the group. They stared with wide eyes and pity, and maybe a bit of fear. It made her uncomfortable. "Let's go, it's not safe here." she stated as she picked up her bow.

The way Constance spoke unnerved Rapunzel. She'd only known Constance for a few hours, and a lot of things about her were unusual to say the least. But this wasn't like Constance. Constance was friendly and helpful, a bit of an airhead, but well rounded. Constance being so solemn and serious gave Rapunzel chills.

"Constance," Rapunzel softly gulped. 

"Save it." Constance groaned. It was like she was already sick of listening to them already.

"I don't wanna hear it. I'll..." Constance trailed off solemnly.

"I'll come back and get him once you're all safely out of the tree and on the right path. This is more important." Constance said as she kicked some dirt onto the smouldering fire and without miss a beat, began to head in the direction of the dirt path out.

Rapunzel looked to Adira, looking for some reaction or maybe even direction of what to do. But Adira simply gestured to follow Constance.

Usually Rapunzel didn't mind not being able to get a read on Adira. She was mysterious and intriguing, it was almost like a game. But now she loathed her stoicness; wishing for some indication for how to proceed with Constance.

The party slowly started to follow Constance keeping a few paces behind her. Adira flanked them, forming a protective sandwich from the last Brotherhood members, well Sisterhood now.

Constance's mind was racing in the back of her mind, but she numbly trudged on, paying no mind to the pitiful looks she was getting.

However the rithmic marching didn't last long when a quiet tremor caused everybody to freeze mid stride. 

Rapunzel grabbed Eugene's arm. "What was that?" she asked lowly.

"You know, in my experience, growing rumbles never lead to a good thing." Eugene quipped.

The tremors grew louder and louder as the walls began to crumble around them. Constance reached for her bow, unsure but wary.

An ominous green glow shone from the pit just moments before a swirling mess of giant cursed roots erupted like a volcano out of the abyss. The party was dwarfed compared to the sheer size and number of the roots.

The glowing roots began to slip away from the giant tangle, revealing Hector submissively suspended by his arms as they continuously slithered around his face and body. 

He growled an animalistic guttural sound before he spoke. "All who enter the Great Tree of Zhan Tiri, shall be Destroyed!!"

Screams echoed throughout the cavern as the roots sprung into action, lashing out at anything that moved. Constance somersaulted out of the way, pulled out her knives and leapt into action. She dodged and weaved the tirade of roots, only managing to slice a couple, sending the roots retreating to the mass tangle with a hiss.

Everybody was fighting in some way or another. Constance didn't expect Rapunzel's party to be so adept at fighting. They just seemed so squishy. 

Unprecedented movement out of the corner of her eye caught Constance's attention. She vaulted herself over a large cluster of rubble to where Adira was, effectively crushing the angry root sneaking up behind her. Adira didn't acknowledge Constance, but hurdled over her to dash up the offending root, Constance followed a few paces behind.

With the strongest ax kick Constance has ever seen, Adira knocked the spear out of Hector's hand with a sickening crunch. Hector screeched and retracted his hand, cradling it at his side. With an angry howl, he roughly grabbed her ankle and with inhuman strength and lobbed her back to Rapunzel.

But then Constance was upon him. She landed on his face, her muddied boots imprinting on his cheek as her dagger tore at the roots that held him so tightly. She managed to get an arm and part of his torso free before he righted himself and grabbed Constance's collar and yanked her down. As she stumbled trying to right her balance, a root lashed her, sending her spiraling to Adira. 

There was hardly a chance to hit the ground, instead Constance felt a slimy tendril circle her ankle, jolting and suspending her mid-air.. One of the roots held her steady as another was slithering up her body trying to incapacitate her. A quick glance around determined the cursed roots were trying to immobilize them all.

Constance wriggled and struggled, but the roots were wrapping around her body faster and tighter. "Adira!" she called. But Adira was too preoccupied with her own mess of roots.

Between being choked out not 5 minutes ago, and now dangling like a forgotten ornament, and squeezed like a stress ball on top of it all, Constance began feeling light headed again.

She focused on her breathing. In and out, in and out. Sweat rolled up her beat red face and slowly dripped off her forehead to the ground. Squirming was too easy, there was no way she could escape with the roots moving with her wiggling body.

A hauntingly beautiful singing caught her ear. Craning her neck, she saw Rapunzel standing bravely before the towering cluster of roots. Her ebony black hair wrapped around the base of the tangle, burning and sizzling the roots as they turned from the glowing neon green to a dusty dead brown, crumbling like sand and dropping everybody wrapped in their grip.

The root holding Constance finally started decaying, snaking up to her body and dropping her. She landed very much like a cat, crouched on all fours beside Adira, taking a moment to catch her breath and observe the area.

Everybody had already retreated to an opening in the wall. Everyone except for Cassandra.

Huffing and losing energy Rapunzel screamed. "Go! I can't hold it much longer!"

"You heard her shorthair, let's go." Adira said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No! I'm not leaving her." Cassandra yanked her shoulder from under Adira's grasp, then gently walked to Rapunzel, begging her.

Adira and Constance gave each other a curt nod, silently deciding to stay.

"Raps please." Cassandra begged, touching her arm. An electric blue pulsed from Rapunzel's arm onto Cassandra's, dissolving her glove and burning her hand to a blackened crisp.   
"Auuughhh!" Cassandra cried, clutching her arm close to her body.

"Cas!" Rapunzel cried, dropping her incantation and running to her friend. Constance stepped in front of them and Adira closer behind them, together they shielded them from Hector as he swayed with the roots that continued to deteriorate beneath him.

"Listen! Your friend is right you know." Hector taunted. "Adira is lying to you, she corrupted Constance and is corrupting you too. She may have you think she's helping your destiny, but if you go to the Dark Kingdom, you're doomed!"

The decaying roots that suspended Hector finally gave, collapsing in on themselves and dropping down the pit, taking Hector with them.

Quick as a fox, Constance abandoned the sundrop and spirited to the pit, pulling two arrows from her quiver.

"Constance!" Rapunzel cried, but she was ignored.

Constance gracefully jumped into the pit. She shot an arrow at Hector's falling body. The connected rope wrapped itself around his torso and tightened. Without missing a beat, Constance contorted her body to face the entrance to the pit. She had to be careful, if she didn't get enough momentum behind this, it wouldn't catch and she'd fall to her death along with Hector.

She aimed and fired. Holding her breath, listening, waiting for the arrow to find it's mark. 

It felt like forever, but was a meer second when, with an aggressive jolt, Constance stopped falling. She started to breath again, swaying, suspended in mid air by the ropes on her belt, down a pit in a crumbling tree.

Carefully, she angled herself upside down and wrapped a leg around the rope suspending her and Hector. As Constance stared straight down the endless abyss, she became thankful she didn't have vertigo.

Slowly but steadily, she started to pull Hector up. His body swayed back and forth as he got closer and closer to her.

Then Adira appeared, she slid down the rope like a fireman. Constance curled her head up to glance at Adira, clearly looking for some help or direction. But with no words, Adira used the glowing spear and cut the rope supporting them.

"Adira!" Constance yelped, more from surprise than fear or anger.

They plummeted into the darkness as the tree completely collapsed around them.

When the rumbling stopped, Adira heaved the giant piece of bark off of them. Constance looked to Hector to make sure he was still alive. He remained unconscious, peacefully passed out in the dirt, blissfully ignorant to the dozens of injuries littering his body.

She saw Rapunzel's golden hair lightly dancing in the wind from the top of the cliff.

Essek and Kiri scurried over the rubble to the Brotherhood members, hissing at Adira and picking up Hector, dragging him away. Presumably to one of the hideouts.

Taking one last glance at Rapunzel, Constance threw her bow over her shoulder and followed the binturongs, with Adira not too far behind her.


	6. Chapter 6 - Forest Trudge

Thunder raged on as Constance forced her way forward against the constant assault of wind and rain. Her bare skin was bright red and felt bruised from the pellets of sideways rain. She's never seen conditions like this before, the weather was practically demonic.

Constance had nearly been hit by several large flying branches, she slipped down the side of a hill, and she even lost her boots in a flash flood an hour ago and has been trudging around barefoot since. But she had a mission.

Adira didn't give Constance very many missions, being as before a few months ago there weren't any to do. However, ever since Rapunzel's powers showed themselves there has been a single mission. Make sure the sundrop gets to the moonstone.

But it wasn't the journey Constance worried about, no Cassandra could handle them just fine. It was King Edmund that made her worry.

Constance had to beat them to the Dark Kingdom and distract Hamuel and King Edmund while Adira snuck them in and neutralized the moonstone. Hopefully it could all happen right under King Edmund's nose, and he wouldn't know until it was finished.

After the incident at the Great Tree with Hector, Adira had taken it upon herself to heal and guard him; deeming him a greater threat to Rapunzel's journey than anything she's aware of on the upcoming road. Constance had to agree. Hector practically raised Constance through her adolescent years. He thinks of her as his own daughter and taught her everything a parent could teach a child; fighting, weaponry, herbalism, cooking. So if anybody knew how driven and ruthless he could be, it was her.

Her goal was to catch up with Rapunzel's party and observe them from a distance. She wasn't unanimously liked and didn't want to cause a rift and ruin their parties dynamic.

However finding them was proving tricky as the weather raged on. 

Constance knew she's an excellent tracker. She'd never been one for boasting, but she knew she's better than Hector and Adira, but this weather was making it impossible to find even a resemblance of a trail. The constant torrent of rain and wind destroyed any evidence of tracks or paths. Not like she could've seen them anyway with how much rain was coming down. Her cloak did it's best to shield her, but her eyes were so squinted that she couldn't see much of anything other than blurred shapes and tones. 

A sudden harsh gust of wind knocked her off her feet, making her stumble and fall into the muddy ground. She curled in on herself and waited as the wind skinned her back for it to die down. For a brief moment it did, and she looked up out of the mud and spit some out. She'd hadn't realized at first but she'd gotten a mouthful when she fell.

Her eyebrows furrowed and her nose scrunched as she looked forward, hoping to see a cave or some sort of shelter. But an odd blur of bright yellow in the distance to her right caught her attention. 

She stared at a moment, trying to process what it could possibly be, but her fevered mind thought of one thing. Shelter.

Constance felt a bubble rise in her throat that screamed for help, but swallowed it. She could make it on her own, besides, she probably wouldn't have been able to hear herself if she screamed as loud as she could, forget about the people in the house. Her head craned up out of the mud again and refocused on the yellow blur. She was pushing against the rain before she knew it.

Slowly but steadily, Constance made her way to the direction she saw the house. She tried to ignore how badly the rain hurt, and how cold she was, but it was all she could think about. She couldn't see at all now, the rain was beating down harder and it hurt. She felt the ground underneath her feet disappear. She was falling.

She tumbled forward and her arms flailed hoping to grab anything that could catch her. Her fingers briefly brushed the cliffside she fell off of. It took her a split second to realize what she had discovered before her fingers clawed at the rock, becoming scraped as they dragged across the jagged stone. Her attempts were fruitless as she belly flopped into a shallow puddle of mudd.

Constance could think of a million things better than what was happening to her right now. At home in bed, eating bone marrow, lost at sea, working out with Hector.

Scratch that, working out with Hector was worse.

As Constance slowly pulled herself to her feel and her knees buckled, she took a moment to catch her bearings. The rain pelted her back as her front was pressed up against the cliff she had just fallen off of. Her neck slowly craned up, trying to see how far she'd fallen.

It wasn't the 200ft cliff she fell off of, or the sink hole she was swallowed into, it was probably a 10ft ledge at most. Constance looked at her red and raw fingers, wishing she'd just taken the fall instead of hurting her hands so badly.

The storm was only getting worse, and Constance needed to find shelter quickly or she wouldn't make it when night fell and the temperature dropped. 

Constance turned, squinted, and heavily walked into the wind again. There it was, the warm yellow blur. It looked more like a house, until she noticed the dark wheels and horse harnesses. It must be a carriage. 

Muddy feet and bloody fingers, she muscled through another gust of wind to the carriage. Much like a battering ram, her body slammed against the door to the carriage, swiftly forcing the door open.

Constance flew through the door, collapsing onto the floor. She heaved in a breath of dry air that soothed her aching lungs. It wasn't warm in the caravan, but it was warmer than it was outside.

After a moment sprawled on the wooden floor, Constance pushed herself to her feet and, with more effort than she'd admit, she pushed the door closed. Constance finally turned to survey the caravan she'd just barged into.

It's empty.

She cautiously started to investigate the camper, hoping to find any recent signs of life. The beds were unmade, dirty dishes left on tables and counters, and buckets meant to catch the water from the leaky roof were overflowed. 

Ok, so nobody was here. Great.

Constance shivered, at least she was shielded from the weather. She made her way over to the cleanest table and pulled out a chair. Her feet ached and her fingers burned. She sunk into the chair and relaxed. She'd been wandering around in this weather all day with no progress. It's frustrating.

She took a moment just to calm her rapid beating heart and examine her body. Her shoes were long gone and while freezing and muddy, her feet weren't that bad. Clumps of sopping hair clung to her face and neck, sending violent shivers down her spine.

Constance didn't mind having her hair down, but it could be bothersome when she was shooting, so up it must go. She ran her fingers through the loose clumps of hair, but recoiled with a hiss. Her fingers burned. They were torn up, bloodied, and disgusting to look at. 

Oh yeah, she had fallen off a ledge and tried to catch herself. Stupid.

Constance knew her fair share of first aid because of her interest in herbalism, but had next to no experience administering it. Before she became a member of the Brotherhood, she was a rough and tumble child, so her mom or dad would bandage her up. 

Living with Hector, injuries were a given. But instead of taking care of herself, he'd always insist on taking care of her. And Hector never got hurt so she never had the chance to help him. Adria was the same way. She'd tried to bandage herself before, but her bandage jobs were always sloppy and unuseable. 

Constance's moment to herself didn't last very long, as an unnatural light outside the stained glass window caught her attention. It was hard to tell exactly what it was through the harsh rain, but it looked like a real building, maybe a manor.

What was a manor doing so far in the wilderness? They're near a trade route, but it's one of the less popular ones, nobody on this route could possibly make enough to afford such luxury. This didn't make sense.

For a brief second, Constance considered riding out the rest of the storm in the creaky old camper, but when a section of the roof started to lift up from the wind, she was already standing and heading to the door.

She didn't take 3 steps forward when her bare foot stepped in something cold and mushy.

Constance closed her eyes, her shoulders bristled in disgust, and took a careful breath in, preparing herself to see whatever slimy nastiness wormed it's way between her toes. Her eyes cracked open and she peered down at her foot. A rotten apple slice. 

Gross.


	7. Chapter 7 - Mirror

After running through the storm as quickly as possible, wiping her feet on the front door mat a few times, Constance pounded her fist on the door. There was no answer. She tried again, and again, but there was still no answer. After a particularly nasty gust of wind, she pulled the front handle. Locked.

Her eye twitched.

A sudden rage overcame Constance as her nostrils flared and she bared her teeth in a scream of anger. She snapped her bow and fired point blank at the lock, the arrow cut through the metal like butter, shattering the lock.

"Ah!" she hissed, she'd forgotten about her injured fingers when she pulled back her bowstring.

Throwing her weapon back over her shoulder, she heaved open the heavy front door just enough for her to slip through and pushed it closed again. She sank to the floor with a huff. 

God what she wouldn't give for a hot spring right now. 

Constance stayed on the ground in front of the door for a few moments, gathering her bearings and calming her raging temper.

She rubbed her palms on her tired eyes roughly before she decided to take a look around the house. It's been nearly two days since she's slept and her eyes itched horribly.

"Hello?" she called as her eyes focused. She seemed to be in an entrance hall. It was a circular room with soft oranges and pinks, ornate spiral decorations decorated every inch of the space. It was gorgeous.

Constance stood and folded her arms together, being extra mindful of where her fingers were, to try and stop her body from the progressively violent shivering.

"I kinda broke your door!"

Her voice eerily echoed off the walls and faded away into the dozens of endless hallways. 

"But it was an accident!"

She made her way up the grand staircase and down one of the various hallways, hoping that maybe there'd be people. This place was as big as a castle, it couldn't just be empty. Servants and maids should be tending to the halls. Something wasn't adding up.

"Hello?" she'd call occasionally as she blindly crept down random halls. She made a point to avoid opening doors, as it felt like she would be invading something private. Not that she wasn't invading already. If guards lived out here, they'd probably try to arrest her for trespassing.

Many of the walls were littered with intricate wall decorations, and even more had mirrors on them, which she carefully avoided.

"Why who might you be?"

Constance jumped at the voice and whipped around. A dirty, short, old man with a messy white beard and a large drinker's nose was patiently waiting for her with his hands pleasantly behind his back. 

"Oh! Sorry you startled me." she laughed bashfully. 

"No need to apologize. On the contrary, I apologize for giving you such a fright!" the old man remarked. He gestured for Constance to follow as he turned and started to saunter back the way he came. Constance followed.

"Say," he started, noticing her shivering. "You seem tremendously fridged. Perhaps you might relish in the warmth of the inglenook and a hearty beef stew."

"Really?" Constance stared at him with eyes wide as saucers, "I just broke into your house." She resembled a deer in headlights. She wasn't sure what an igglenouke was, but the mention of stew made her mouth water.

"Quite sure dear." he spoke with a confident, but lazy tone. "I believe you are here for a reason."

Constance wanted to groan, but refrained. She didn't buy this destiny garbage for a second, and it was getting really old really fast, but whatever to keep her warm and dry until the storm passes.

"Oh, I-" an intense shiver ran up her spine and shook her entire body. Her teeth clattered together hard and she was suddenly aware of how icy cold her hair felt on the back of her neck. 

"I'm Constance."

"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance. My name is Shorty."

A befuddled but amused smile snaked its way to Constance's face. Here he was, an extraordinarily well spoken old man with impeccable posture and mannerisms, but he was wearing something akin to a burlap sack, his nose was bigger than her fist, and his beard could actually be a rats nest he found in a ditch. But what got Constance was that his name is Shorty. Odd, but fitting.

Shorty led her down hallways that twisted and turned. She tried to count the doors on her way, but there were so many it felt impossible to count them all.

"If it isn't too much of an inconvenience, wait here a moment." Shorty left to a room on the right.

Constance stood awkwardly in the random deadend in the seemingly endless maze she'd just traversed through. Probably the largest mirror she's ever seen in her life decorated the wall.

As she casually observed her surroundings, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was shivering and hugging herself tightly, giving her a hunched appearance. Her raven hair was barely staying contained in it's bun; the clumps of sopping hair that did escape were working in tandem with freckles to make her look extremely pale, almost sickly. And to top it all off her eyes were bloodshot and appeared to be sunken with tiredness.

She looked awful.

Taking a few steps from the mirror, Constance examined the hallway from where she came. Nervously licking her lips, she took notice of the beautiful chandelier hanging above her that could've been made of coral, and some odd fish skeleton decorating the table on the right.

Shorty then returned. Constance beamed, she could already taste the beef stew.

"What's that on your face?" Shorty asked.

"What's w-what?" she shivered.

"That. On your face."

"Whe- um.." she didn't know what to say. Why was this guy being so rude out of the blue? He was so polite and gentalmently before, his voice lost it's warmth and was so demanding.. 

She quickly wiped her nose on her arm, maybe it was just a booger.

"Go look in the mirror." he ordered. 

Constance stood frozen. Her mouth agape, moving but now words made it past her throat as they got caught. It was a simple request, and it was the least she could do since this man was giving her a room and food. But she didn't want to, she couldn't.

"Here let me get it for you." Shorty said sweetly. His mood shift would've been alarming, but the fatigue from the day was catching up with a vengeance.

Uneasily, Constance crouched so Shorty could reach her face and pick off whatever was bothering him so much. It was probably a twig or smudge of mud the rain hadn't washed away.

But what happened next she would've never expected. The sweet old man who had given her shelter from the storm, picked her up and threw her like she was a skipping stone.

Constance yelped in surprise as she soared backwards. She tended for the inevitability of hard, stoney impact, but what she got instead was the weirdest sensation she's ever felt. It was like she fell into water, but she didn't get wet, and the pressure from the water like sensation was there for a split second before it disappeared.

Then she skidded on the ground, tearing up the carpet as her tumbling body came to a halt. She got up immediately with fists raised and ready for a fight. Her eyes flew around the room, looking for Shorty so she could beat the crap out of him.

There he was, right in front of the armoire.

"Hey!" Constance fumed stalking up behind him and swinging her leg back to punt the little bastard right in the face like one would a ball.

Putting full force behind her kick, she aimed and fired, but missed. Constance didn't know exactly what was happening, but she did know that someone was behind her, shouting, and trying to restrain her. 

She was suddenly overwhelmed with fear.

What had she gotten herself into? Why couldn't she have just stayed in the leaky camper? What if this was a hideout for human traffickers? And there she went, wandering inside with everything but the gift wrappings. 

Fast as lighting, she shot around, breaking the attackers hold and inadvertently whipping the person in the face with some of her loose wet hair. She used her pointer and middle finger to stab the person in the notch of their neck in between their clavicle. The striking sting in her fingers made her want to yelp, but instead she lowly hissed.

A gasp and pitiful gurgle and the attacker stumbled back heaving.

Constance got into a defensive position, legs bent to sturdy her stance, her face was an unexpressive steel and her eyes dangerous and calculated, but it wasn't quite as intimidating as she'd normally like due to her intense shivering. She prepared to leap on her attacker and pummel them into the ground.

"Wait! Wait wait wait!" the attacker begged, doubled over and pathetically waving a hand at her.

Constance stopped, but did not lower her guard or move to help, this was either a plea for mercy or a trick.

Hold on, she recognized him.

"It's me! Eugene, remember! We were in the giant tree with Rapunzel and Adira! And your crazy Uncle attacked us and became possessed and attacked us again, then the tree collapsed!" he spoke fast and worriedly, trying to stop her from beating him any more.

She cautiously lowered her guard, but kept a suspicious eye on him. Eugene saw her fists fall to her sides and grabbed his neck where she'd jabbed him and fell to the ground wheezing.

"Geez that hurt!" he heaved, his voice was higher than it was last time. She accredited that to the bruise forming on the notch of his neck. 

"What are you doing here?" Constance jumped at the voice. Cassandra snuck up behind her and she hadn't noticed in her panic. She was sassily standing there with her arms crossed and an impassive look on her face. "Are you following us?"

Trying to focus on her rapidly beating heart, Constance reached for her water skin. She swallowed before she could speak. "Yeah."

Cassandra's expression didn't shift. Constance couldn't tell if she was angry or not, but her suspicion was obvious. "Why?"

Constance took a small sip of water. "I'm going to the Dark Kingdom." she said, handing the skin to Eugene, who took it with earnest and started glugging the water down greedily.

She didn't say anything else, which irritated Cassandra. "Could you maybe elaborate?" she sassed.

"King Edmund's been a bit... eccentric. If I can get there before you, and distract him and Hamuel, you all can sneak in and deal with the moonstone, and he'd be none the wiser."

"Who's King Edmund?" Cassandra asked, remaining stoick.

Constance's brows furrowed. "You know King Edmund. Ruler of the Dark Kingdom, Guardian of the Moonstone, The Last Dark King." Constance tried, stressing the various titles of this King Edmund.

Cassandra and Eugene side eyed each other before returning to stare blankly at Constance.

"No?" Constance asked, looking genuinely bewildered they haven't heard of him. They both just lightly shook their heads. Constance frowned. "Huh."

"How did you end up in here?" Cassandra asked

Constance's face grew sour as she peered passed Eugene to glare at Shorty. "Ask that little bastard." she accused. "He told me I can get some food and lodging from the storm, but then he catapulted me across the room!"

Eugene raised himself from the ground, still tenderly rubbing his throat. "Hey now, lets all relax. This is an entire mess and a half. This," he gestured to Shorty with Constance's water skin. "is the real Shorty. And I'm the real Eugene, and that's the real Cas. The Shorty you met out there was some kind of freaky mirror, double, thing."

Constance blinked, staring at Eugene with slightly narrowed, but confused eyes. "Great." she huffed.

Constance lamented, her shoulder relaxed and her arms fell to her sides. She'd finally calmed herself after the hours of trudging through the rain and two different, incredibly one-sided fights. 

She looked at Shorty, the real one, as he sat dazed and undaunted against the armoire eating a yam.

"Did you see any of our doubles?" Cassandra inquired, uncrossing her arms.

Constance shook her head. "No, I only met Shorty, I didn't know the rest of you were here."

Cassandra and Eugene exchange a glance.

"What?"

"You met Shorty before remember? At the tree." Cassandra stated.

Constance blinked dumbly before her face grew pink in embarrassment. 

"Well I-" she stuttered. "I met more people in one hour with your group than I had for over a decade!" she huffed. "It was a bit overwhelming."

"Hold on," Eugene interrupted. "We were the first people you've met in over a decade?"

He was surprised and even a bit aghast to say the least. How could someone go an entire decade without meeting more than 6 people?

"No, I've met plenty of people. I've just- the most." She made a large sweeping gesture with her hands, trying to convey what she was thinking, but couldn't manage to put into words.

"Ah." Eugene believed her, even though he had his doubts, but was having a hard time coming to terms.

Stumbling his way between the group, Shorty paused before Constance, bleary eyes not quite meeting hers. "As a reference for the future, I prefer tossing to kicking." he slurred.

Constance crossed her arms and gave a dismissive grunt.

"Alright, we still need to find a way out of here." Cassandra spoke up.

"Yeah, well we've already scoured the place. There's no way out." Eugene said.

Cassandra's brows furrowed as the thought. "Just, give me some time to think."

Silence fell over the group as they sat against the uncomfortable walls in the hallway. Constance started a small fire to warm her trembling hands. Constance had also offered to share some provisions from her bag, which turned out to be damp jerky, which was vehemently denied by Eugene and Cassandra, but Shorty took a piece and munched away.

"Hey Cassandra?" Constance asked from the corner.

"What?"

"Could you please bandage my hands?"

It took Cassandra a moment to process what Constance had just said, as she said it so casually and uninhibited, the request didn't match her tone of voice and it threw her off. 

Cassandra's irritation depleted when she glanced at Constance's fingers. They reminded Cassandra of when the local stray dogs fought. She'd only seen the outcome once, but the losing dog came out of the fight so beaten up he hadn't made it through the night despite Cassandra's best efforts.

"Geez what happened?" 

"I fell off a ledge."

That was it? So blunt.

"I tried to catch myself." she added.

Cassandra continued to stare, remaining impassive.

"Didn't work."

"Yeah I can tell." Cassandra deadpanned with a hint of amusement to her voice. She sat down in front of Constance and pulled out some extra bandages she carried on her ever since the Great Tree.

"Oh! Wait! Put this on first." Constance pulled a small rag and a brown bottle out of her pouch and handed them to Cassandra.

Cassandra uncorked the bottle and was abruptly assaulted by the strongest and most pundget alcohol she ever had, and ever will encounter in her life.

"Oh god! What is that?"

"Moonshine."

"Yeah I figured that out." she scoffed. "You want me to put that in your open wounds?"

"Okay, in my defence, that's the one for drinking. I usually have a disinfectant oil, but I used all my balms and creams on Hector, Adira, and me when the tree fell on us, and some of the ingredients are seasonal, so I can't make any more until I can get everything. So..." she held out her hands to Cassandra and braced herself.

Cassandra acted quickly, she was familiar with alcohol as a substitute for more medicinal disinfectants, she'd even used it herself a few times, but this was strong and it will burn. Badly.

She poured a bit of moonshine on the cloth and grabbed one of Constance's hands in a gentle, but firm hold. "Ready?"

Constance took in an apprehensive breath, her nerves were starting to show past her easygoing facade. "As I'll ever be."

Cassandra dabbed the damp cloth on her fingers. Constance bit her lip to stop from howling. If her fingers were crushed under a metal weight in the middle of a fire, she probably wouldn't notice a difference. Unconsciously her fingers twitched and wriggled, but Cassandra's unyielding grip didn't let them move too much.

Quick work was made, and Cassandra was halfway done individually wrapping her fingers before she noticed the Dark Kingdom symbol tattooed on the back of her hand..

She saw Cassandra lingered a moment on her tattoo, but made quick work of finishing the bandaging.

Constance held up her hand and flexed it. The bandaging was impeccable, better than she could ever do. "This is really good Cassandra." she awed, wiggling her fingers. "Are you also a doctor?"

"No." Cassandra chuckled. "But it's good to know your way around a first aid kit. Now come on, let's get your other hand over with." Cassandra demanded, waving for Constance's other hand. 

Eugene with Shorty from the other side of the hallway. He didn't watch overtly, but listened with a keen ear and a ghost of a smile on his face.

But he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye that made his body shiver. Lance was materializing, or Lance's double was. 

Eugene leapt to his feet and drew his rapier, charging for the imposter.

Constance and Cassandra got to their feet as well with weapons drawn when Eugene abruptly charged, but they were too late. Lance's double yanked Lance into the mirror and threw him at Eugene, who ducked, splaying himself on the floor. 

Lance slammed into the wall and fell to the ground. He groaned as he lifted himself from the ground, holding his head. Cassandra and Eugene rushed over, helping him to his feet. Constance stood beside Shorty, watching them but keeping a side-eye on the mirror.

Shaking his head, Lance stood on his own, observing the grey colorscape around him.

"Lance, are you alright?" Eugene asked as he dusted off Lance's shoulder.

"I think so." he muttered. "What was that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! I've been struggling to write this chapter and the ones until the beginning of season 3. About half of the chapters that take place in season 3 just need to be edited, but getting there is going to be a challenge lol.
> 
> Idk, we'll see how quickly or slowly the next few chapters come out.


End file.
